By Kimhun Thit

Like over two million Cambodians now living in other Asian countries, Nuon Toeun left Cambodia to support her family and pursue a better life. She worked for over six years as a domestic employee in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Like many other Cambodians abroad, she used social media to criticize the Hun family regime. The great majority of Cambodia’s Khmer and English language media is controlled by the government, and social media accounts outside the country are one of the few avenues through which political discussion is possible. 

Nuon Toeun, aged 36, was arrested in September 2024 by Malaysian police, shortly after calling Hun Sen a “despicable guy” and handed over to the Cambodian authorities. She was denied access to a lawyer and deported. The Cambodian government labelled her as a “trouble-maker,” threw her into prison and charged her with “incitement.” She may face up to five years in prison, as well as a fine. 

The Washington Post has reported that in July 2024 the Cambodian government canceled Toeun’s passport and informed Malaysia. Her host country then withdrew her work permit, making her an illegal migrant, andmonitored her for the Cambodian authorities. Nuon Toeun’s family in December raised concerns about her health in prison in Phnom Penh, where she has been suffering from seizures. 

The public shaming of critics such as Nuon Toeun is as barbaric and irrational as the witch hunts of previous centuries. Many poor developing countries are able to use the remittances sent by their diasporas to accelerate their economic growth. Nuon Toeun’s family faces severe consequences now that it has to survive without her support. 

Transnational repression by the Cambodian regime continues to occur in Australia, North America and Europe. In Asia, transnational repression targets Cambodian communities in  Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. The energy and resources expended by the Cambodian government in this futile endeavor means that the diaspora’s potential contribution to the home country in terms of skills, knowledge and financial contribution is wasted. 

The lack of a coherent response from foreign governments to Cambodia’s transnational repression has emboldened the Hun regime to go ever further.  Former Cambodian opposition member of parliament Lim Kimya, a French citizen, was shot dead in Bangkok on January 7, shortly after arriving in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia. The Thai courts have now issued an arrest warrant for Ly Rotanakraksmey, an adviser to Hun Sen, on a charge of hiring others to carry out “premeditated murder.”

The Hun regime refuses to accept that public criticism of government is a prerequisite for public accountability. The Cambodian government’s obsession with transnational repression means a lack of attention to the real issues facing people in Cambodia, such as low incomes, lack of healthcare, deforestation and microfinance debts. Governments in countries with Cambodian migrant workers must not allow themselves to be used to further the repressive agenda of the Hun regime.